Funded by CCLG and CCLG Special Named Funds including Bethany’s Wish, Daniel’s Rainbow Fund, Finlay’s Fund, Freddie’s Fight and The Georgie B Fund
Lead investigator: Professor Matthew Murray, University of Cambridge
Award: £49,662.00
Awarded December 2022
Wilms tumour is the most common kidney cancer in children, with around 80 new cases each year in the UK. Almost 9 in 10 children are now cured but, despite intensive treatment, some children’s cancer returns. Wilms tumour is normally diagnosed with a biopsy, where a small piece of the tumour is removed surgically, but this comes with risks for small children and doesn’t always give information about the whole tumour.
Biomarkers are tiny molecules found in the body that tell doctors more about a disease. At the moment there are no biomarkers routinely used for Wilms tumour. Treatment regimes are currently based on changes in the Wilms tumour cells, but treatments are not always successful for high-risk patients. We urgently need a better way to show which patients are high-risk, differences in tumours, and to see whether a treatment is working.
Professor Matthew Murray at the University of Cambridge believes that circulating biomarkers, found in the blood or urine of patients, are the answer to improving Wilms tumour care. His team hope to find biomarkers that they can use to create a non-invasive test to diagnose Wilms tumour. MicroRNA, tiny pieces of genetic code released from tumours into the blood stream, are the best candidate for a Wilms tumour biomarker. Lab tests can detect very small amounts of microRNA in the bloodstream and can tell doctors more about tumour makeup and genetic differences.
Professor Murray’s team will be looking at samples from children with Wilms tumour, taken when they were diagnosed. They have already found potential biomarkers, and will be looking at whether these potential biomarkers can be found in the blood and urine samples. Showing that the biomarkers apply to lots of children with Wilms tumour is the first step in moving the new test towards clinical use. Along with this, the team will be comparing different biomarkers with patient’s history to see whether any of the biomarkers can tell doctors new information about patients, such as the type of Wilms tumour, without the need for surgery.